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Georgia is the most expensive state in the South – and the sixth-most expensive overall -- for energy consumption, according to a report issued this week.

And this month’s bill will likely be the worst of the year.

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A comparison of average monthly bills in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia concluded that the average monthly bill in Georgia is $310 – higher than all but a handful of others, according to a study by WalletHub, a Washington, D.C.-based web site for consumer credit information.

That includes your home and car, too, says WalletHub. Their formula accounts for electricity, natural gas, motor fuel and home heating oil.

And the company released the report this week, with consumers about half-way through July. And this is the month when much of the country – not just Georgia – has its air conditioners running much of the time, while many people are pumping cars full of gas as they hit the highway for family vacations.

That makes July the month with the highest energy consumption of the year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Second-highest is August.

As a pure cost, energy can be a drag on economic growth, crimping productivity and efficiency. For a business, higher costs can shrink profits and dampen expansion, but can sometimes be managed with planning, hedging or volume discounts.

For a household, softening the blow can be more difficult – especially for those living paycheck to paycheck. The more modest an income, the more energy costs can be a continual, but unpredictable stress, a drain on cash flow that siphons income from other spending.

And while most homes are more energy-efficient than in the past, the trend has been toward larger homes.